GREAT BAY – President of the Sint Maarten Carnival Development Foundation (SCDF), Alston Lourens has expressed the organisation’s dissatisfaction at the ‘unfortunate’ incidents which allegedly occured at the Youth Extravaganza on Monday night. “The children will get another chance to perform.” Lourens explained that there was enough warnings made to the organisers and MC’s of the show about explicit and disrespectful behavior on stage prior to the event and cautions should have been heeded. “Some of the acts had to perform youth-oriented music and lyrics. We spoke to the promoters and gave them a couple warnings at the beginning.” the…
Author: The Publisher
GREAT BAY – Captain Dino Arrundell never had a vending license to operate his chicken shack on the parking lot at Kim Sha Beach, the ministry of tourism and economic affairs said in answer to questions from this newspaper about the closure of the popular hangout. “Mr. Arrundell used the vending license of another person who has not been residing in St. Maarten since 2015,” the ministry said. “The facts surrounding the license Mr. Arrundell is using became evident when he was asked to relocate from the location to allow the construction of the public parking lot. Arrangements were made…
Closed down, victim of a possibly outdated, easily circumvented government policy on vending licenses. That policy states (and I am paraphrasing) that vending licenses can only be issued to unemployed persons who have no other means of income. Captain Dino does have a day job. But I suggest we do not go down that road…. how many persons with a day job including Commissioners (when WE were the government) and now parliamentarians, civil servants and other holders of jobs in the public as well as private sectors did and do not also hold taxi, bus and/or other permits that are…
GREAT BAY – The government violated its pre-contractual obligations towards contractor Windward Roads when it unilaterally terminated negotiations on December 19, 2011 about the construction of a waste to energy facility on Pond Island. This appears from a ruling from the Court in First Instance. The waste-to-energy saga The court sentenced the country to pay Windward Roads 60,730 guilders for turnover taxes; earlier the country already paid the contractor a bit more than 1 million guilders in a partial settlement on August 7, 2013. Windward Roads demands compensation to the tune of 4.5 million guilders. The court allowed the company…
The court ruling about the dispute between contractor Windward Roads and the country about the construction of a waste-to-energy facility on Pond Island leaves one important question unanswered: why? The ruling smells of blatant unwillingness from the side of the government – not to mention utilities company Gebe – to make this project succeed. Yes, we have heard the stories that Gebe considered the power purchase agreement unpalatable (because the price it would have to pay for the energy was higher than it costs Gebe to produce electricity at the power plant in Cay Bay), but the court ruling shows…
GREAT BAY – Initial reports reaching Today Newspaper Online newsdesk at noon indicated that there was an accident on the landfill which resulted in the death of one man from the Dominican Republic. According to reports, which were sketchy at the time, one man – reported to be named ‘Julio’ – was struck and killed by a dump truck conducting work at the landfill. One source, who was present when emergency vehicles arrived, said “They blocked off the place to gather evidence and no one was allowed to go to the dump.” “Employees were sent home because investigations are going…
GREAT BAY – The extradition hearing to determine whether casino owner Francesco Corallo can be extradited to Italy has been scheduled for Tuesday May 16. This appears from a letter Minister Ronald Plasterk (Kingdom Relations) sent to the Second Chamber on Friday in answer to questions from the parliamentary Kingdom Relations Committee. Plasterk wrote that an earlier hearing (on March 21) did not go through due to objections from the defense. The letter does not mention a second scheduled date – May 2 – when the hearing cannot take place either because it is a national holiday in St. Maarten…
Dear Editor, The European Human Rights commission reported on the administration of justice in the Netherlands and its territories. One of their conclusions was that 43 percent of prisoners in the Netherlands have not seen a judge. What we have witnessed so many times now that the prosecutor is able to arrest people on any drummed up charge treat you as they please and then go seek information to charge and prosecute you. Here in St. Maarten we are definitely being set up for the fall if we are to really pay attention to what’s being done by the justice…
The Common Court of Justice has finally found a date for the extradition hearing of casino owner Francesco Corallo, but May 16 will only be the first step in what could be a long process. After several failed attempts to have Corallo’s extradition-detention suspended, there seems to be little chance that he will regain his freedom anytime soon. The extradition hearing will shed some light though on the Italian accusations against the casino owner, who told this newspaper earlier this month that it is just about some gaming fees that were paid late. The frustration with Corallo’s continued detention is…
The Maximus-trial is the talk of the town in Willemstad. NOS correspondent Dick Drayer shed his light on the case in his blog De Achterkant van Curacao. These are his observations. “Almost four years after the murder of the Curacaolenean politician Helmin Wiels it starts to become clear who are behind this political murder. The principals come from the gambling sector but also from within politics. That is what the Public Prosecutor’s Office claimed during the first day of the Maximus-trial, a case that should in the end get political heavyweights behind bars, the public prosecutor promised. Those heavyweights were…
